Boris Johnson strips Parliament of powers to tamper with his Brexit plans
BORIS Johnson cracked the whip yesterday by stripping out any role for Parliament to tamper with his Brexit plans.
The PM removed key provisions for MPs to scrutinise the talks over our future trade deal with the EU.
The details of his revised Withdrawal Agreement Bill came as he published the key piece of legislation that will enact Britain’s EU exit on January 31.
The deal is expected to sail through today — on the last day of business for MPs before Christmas.
His previous Brexit deal had promised to offer MPs a vote on his negotiating strategy for the future UK-EU trade deal.
It also vowed to give Parliament regular updates on how the talks were going, a vote on the EU trade deal and a guaranteed role for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
But all four provisions have been stripped out of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill.
A separate Trade Bill outlined yesterday in the Queen’s Speech, also bars MPs from getting a vote on post-Brexit trade deals, such as a UK-US agreement.
The Government will also no longer be required to take unaccompanied refugee children from Europe — known as the Dubs amendment — after the provision in the WAB was watered down.
Also stripped from the WAB are key workers’ rights protections, which have instead been tipped into a separate Employment Bill.
Yesterday No10 confirmed the Brexit department will close down on January 31.
Mr Johnson said the passage of the WAB would “mark the start of a new decade where the UK will champion trade, innovation and science”.
The PM also set out radical constitutional changes. The Fixed-Term Parliamentary Act, which insists on elections every five years, is to be scrapped to prevent future deadlocks.
Mr Johnson is also establishing a commission into Constitution, Democracy and Rights. It will target ancient rules dug up by Remainers in a bid to halt Brexit.
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